Screened cabinet assembly



June 29, 1965 E. MARCOUX SCREENED CABINET ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 24, 1962 Ear] L Marcoux IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent ce 3,192,003 a SCREENED CABINET ASSEMBLY Earl L. Marcoux, 4001 East G St., Tacoma, Wash. .Filed Sept. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 225,727 6 Claims. (Cl. 312204) This invention relates to screened cabinet assemblies. It pertains particularly to ornamental jewel and like cabinets, the faces of which are provided with protective and decorative screens It is the general purpose of the present'invention to provide a cabinet which:

(1) Is protected and concealed by a screening member across its face.

(2) Is semi-camouflaged in that its identity is not, at first sight at least, recognizable from a distance.

(3) Is provided with screen members which may be stationed easily in open, shut or dead center intermediate positions by a simple manipulation.

(4) May be operated readily by opening'and closing its component drawers after an easy adjustment of the screen members.

(5) May be altered substantially in appearance by simple interchange of the screen members.

(6) Is highly decorative and ornamental.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of this invention are accomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification and claims considered together with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation and FIG. 2 a side elevation of the herein described screened cabinet assembly; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are fragmentary top and bottom plan views, respectively, of the herein described screened cabinet assembly, the open positions of the drawers being indicated in dot-ted outline in FIG. 3.-

Generally stated, the screened cabinet assembly of my invention comprises a cabinet having a front face with one or more drawers slidably mounted in it. A pull member is fastened to the front face of the drawer, the pull member being segmented if more than one drawer is employed, so that one segment is affixed to each of the drawers in a juxtaposed assembly.

-A pair of screen members are arranged side by side across the front faces of the cabinet and drawers with their adjacent margins in integrated proximity to each other and to the pull member. Hinge mean-s mount the screen members for angular movement between a closed position, screening the cabinet and drawer faces, an intermediate dead center position, and an open posit-ion removed firom the cabinet and drawer faces and permitting operation of the drawers by the pull members.

Considering the foregoing in greater detail and with particular reference to the drawings:

The screened cabinet assembly of my invention includes a cabinet case, indicated generally at 10, which may be of any appropriate design, but which advantageously may be a jewel cabinet which it is desired to protect, camouflage and decorate.

The cabinet case is provided with one or a plurality of drawers, mounted and operable in the usual manner. In the illustrated embodiment of the invent-ion there are two such drawers indicated at 12, 14-. These drawers have exposed front faces 16, 18 respectively which form the front face of the cabinet itself.

The cabinet case and drawers are suitably supported on front legs 20 and rear legs 22. Each pair of legs conveniently may be fabricated from a single length of wire,

3,192,003 Patented June 29, 1965 bent angularly as illustrated particularly in FIG. 4, and having its central portion embedded and secured in a corresponding recess in the bottom of the cabinet case.

Fixed centrally to the front face of each of the drawers is a pull member which, where there is more than one drawer, is segmented with one of the segments attached to each drawer, the segments in aggregate representing a composite whole of selected characteristics and identity. Thus in the illustrated'form of the invention, where there are two drawers, there is an upper pull segment 24 attached to the upper drawer, and a lower pull segment 26 attached to the lower drawer, the two segments being closely juxtaposed and in aggregate representing the body of an insect.

In addition, screen members 28, 30 are provided which cover the front of the cabinet and the front faces of the drawers. The screen members may be of any desired size, shape and design but preferably are of suflicient size .and extent to completely screen and camouflage the front of the cabinet. They appear inin-tegratedproximity to each other and to the pull members and present preferably a representation of a winged creature such as a butterfly or other insect, a bat, a bird, an angel, or a purely fanciful decorative screening creation.

Hinge means are associated with the screen members and serve to mount them for angular movement between three positions: the closed position of FIG. 1, the open position of FIG. 3 and an intermediate deadcenter position, not illustrated, but from which they maybe adjusted easily to the open or closed positions.

The hinge means employed advantageously comprise a pair of vertically extending posts 32, 34 which may be attached to the cabinet in any desired manner as being formed from a single length of wire bent in an appropriate configuration and having its central segment recessed in and secured to the underside of the cabinet asappears particularly in FIG. 4. It is to be noted particularly that while the posts extend generally in a vertical direction, they nevertheless are angled upwardly toward the rear of the cabinet to a slight degree. This is important, since it enables adjustment of the wings to the three operating positions outlined above,

Thrust bearing means, for example the closed sleeves 66, 38, are fixed to the inside surface of the screen memhers longitudinally thereof, and seat in bearing relation about posts 32, 34. A simple but effective hinge assembly thus is provided which makes possible the desired adjustment and at the same time makes the screen members easily removable for cleaning, repair, decoration or even substitution if it is desired to change the appearance of the assembly.

The operation and use of the cabinet involves simply mounting screen members 28, 30 on posts 32, 34 and adjusting them to the open position of FIG. 3 when it is desired to operate the drawers. The screen members are held by gravity in this open position, due to the angular arrangement of the pivot axes of the posts. After use of the cabinet the screen members then may be swung about to the closed position of FIG. 1 where they effectively screen, decorate, camouflage and protect the cabinet pending a subsequent use. The screen members are held by gravity in this closed position, due to the angular arrangement of the pivot axes of the posts.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A screened cabinet assembly comprising:

(a) a cabinet having a front face and laterally spaced side walls,

(b) a drawer mounted slidably in the cabinet for retractable extension forwardly of the front face of the cabinet,

(c) a pull member fastened to and projecting from the front face of the drawer,

(d) a pair of pivot me-ans mounted on the cabinet and each having a pivot axis disposed laterally outward from opposite sides of the cabinet, and

(e) a pair of screen members one mounted on each pivot means intermediate the lateral sides of the screen member for pivotal move-ment about the axis of the pivot means between an open position wherein the screen members are disposed laterally outward from the cabinet permitting extension of the drawer, and a closed position wherein the screen members are disposed s-ide by side across the front face of the cabinet and retracted drawer, with the inward margins of the screen members spaced apart laterally and disposed closely adjacent the lateral sides of the pull member and in substantially the same plane thereof to expose the pull member to view between the closed screen members, whereby to form a composite screen across the front of the cabinet.

2. The screened cabinet assembly of claim 1 wherein the axis of each pivot means extends angularly upward toward the rear of the cabinet, whereby the screen members are held by gravity selectively in the open and closed positions.

3. The screened cabinet assembly of claim 1 wherein each pivot means comprises an elongated post supported on the cabinet laterally outward and forward of the cabinet and inclined upwardly toward the rear of the cabinet, and each screen member supports an elongated sleeve receivable freely on one of the posts for pivotal movement on the latter.

4. The screened cabinetassembly of claim 1 including a plurality of vertically arranged drawers in the cabinet, and wherein the pull member comprises a plurality of vertically arranged separate segments one secured to each drawer and forming a substantially continuous outline when the drawers are closed.

5. The screened cabinet assembly of claim 1 wherein the pull member is the body and the screen members are the wings of a winged creature, the body and wings be- 4. ing integrated when the screen members are in closed position.

6. A screened cabinet assembly comprising:

(a) a cabinet having a front face and laterally spaced side walls,

(b) a plurality of vertically arranged drawers mounted slidably in the cabinet for retractable extension forwardly of the front face of the cabinet,

(c) .a vertically segmented pull member, one segment of which is fastened to the front face of each drawer, the vertical segments being arranged to form the body of a winged creature,

(d) a pair of elongated posts supported on the cabinet laterally outward and forward of the cabinet and inclined upwardly toward the rear of the cabinet,

(e) a pair of screen members forming the wings of a winged creature, and

(f) an elongated sleeve secured to each screen member intermediate the lateral sides thereof and receivable freely on one of the posts for pivotal movement of the screen members about the axes of the .posts between an open position wherein the screen members are disposed laterally outward from the cabinet permitting extension of the drawers, and a closed position wherein the screen members are disposed side by side across the front of the cabinet and retracted drawers, with the inward margins of the screen members disposed closely adjacent the vertically arranged segments of the pull member to form with the latter a composite screen across the front of the cabinet in the form of a winged creature.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,116,817 11/14 Heller 312-325 X 1,682,272 8/28 Frankenstein 312-311 X 1,728,694 9/29 Morris 312-200 X 2,099,383 1 1/ 37 Anderson 312-324 X 2,470,993 5/49 Kramer 312-204 X 2,636,797 4/53 Alheit 312-329 X 2,690,870 10/54 Harman 312-311 X FOREIGN PATENTS 431,267 2/48 Italy.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

CHA'NCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner. 

1. A SCREENED CABINET ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: (A) A CABINET HAVING A FRONT FACE AND LATERALLY SPACED SIDE WALLS, (B) A DRAWER MOUNTED SLIDABLY IN THE CABINET FOR RETRACTABLE EXTENSION FORWARDLY OF THE FRONT FACE OF THE CABINET, (C) A PULL MEMBER FASTENED TO AND PROJECTING FROM THE FRONT FACE OF THE DRAWER, (D) A PAIR OF PIVOT MEANS MOUNTED ON THE CABINET AND EACH HAVING PIVOT AXIS DISPOSED LATERALLY OUTWARD FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE CABINET, AND (E) A PAIR OF SCREEN MEMBERS ONE MOUNTED ON EACH PIVOT MEANS INTERMEDIATE THE LATERAL SIDES OF THE SCREEN MEMBER FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT THE AXIS OF THE PIVOT MEANS BETWEEN AN OPEN POSITION WHEREIN THE SCREEN MEMBERS ARE DISPOSED LATERALLY OUTWARD FROM THE CABINET PERMITTING EXTENSION OF THE DRAWER, AND A CLOSED POSITION WHEREIN THE SCREEN MEMBERS ARE DISPOSED SIDE BY SIDE ACROSS THE FRONT FACE OF THE CABINET AND RETRACTED DRAWER,WITH THE INWARD MARGINS OF THE SCREEN MEMBERS SPACED APART LATERALLY AND DISPOSED CLOSELY ADJACENT THE LATERAL SIDES OF THE PULL MEMBER AND IN SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME PLANE THEREOF TO EXPOSE THE PULL MEMBER TO VIEW BETWEEN THE CLOSED SCREEN MEMBERS, WHEREBY TO FORM A COMPOSITE SCREEN ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE CABINET 